Thursday, 28 February 2013

Nil by Mouth is
acclaimed actor Gary Oldman’s debut as writer/director and is set in deepest,
darkest, scariest South London. The film
follows a single family and various friends as they struggle with drugs,
alcohol, poverty and violence. Never an easy watch, Nil by Mouth features a grounded and gritty script and some
accomplished directing and won numerous awards on its release in 1997.

Raymond (Ray Winstone) is a wheeler-dealer type who gets by
with various scams and small time crimes. His wife Valerie (Kathy Burke) is
pregnant with their second child and her brother Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles)
scrounges off the pair and his mother Janet (Laila Morse) to feed his heroin
habit. During the two hour, ten minute run time the various family members are
attacked, beaten and arrested in what is a thoroughly depressing tale of abuse;
both the abuse of substances and of each other.

About three minutes into Nil
by Mouth my girlfriend, who was only half watching, turned to me and said
“This is a naughty film, isn’t it?” That is putting it incredibly mildly.
According to IMDb the film holds the record for the most uses of the word
“cunt” which is uttered 82 times in total, mostly by Ray Winstone. The language
itself is terrifying but is nothing compared with the violence. In the film’s
most shocking scene a pregnant woman is beaten senseless by her husband. It
makes for excruciating viewing and isn’t easy to watch. The film brings to the
screen a side of London
which is never seen by tourists or indeed the vast majority of its eight
million residents but it remains recognisable due to its recognisable setting
and naturalistic acting.

Saturday, 16 February 2013

Gary Dove (Ray Winstone) is an ex safe cracker now living in
retirement in Spain.
He and his best friend Aitch (Cavan Kendall) live idyllic lives in the Spanish
sun but their relaxed lives are interrupted by the arrival of terrifying London gangster Don Logan (Ben Kingsley) who tries to
forcefully persuade Gary to do another job back
in the UK.
Despite his protestations Don won’t take no for an answer and an uneasy
standoff develops between the two men.

I’ve never been a fan of the Guy Ritchie style London based gangster
films and get annoyed that British films are generally divided into costume
drama or East End Gangster flicks. Sexy
Beast feels very different from the Gut Ritchie style of film and reminded
me more of a Nicholas Winding Refn film. The colour saturation, violence and
electro, bass heavy soundtrack are all signatures of his work and had I been
told this was one of his films I wouldn’t have doubted it. The film is actually
the debut feature of Director Jonathan Glazer who is better known as a Director
of adverts and music videos. He brings his easy on the eye style to the big
screen and here creates a memorable film which also has one of the best Ben
Kingsley performances I’ve seen.

Thursday, 14 June 2012

After a gang commits a horrific crime in 1880s Australia,
local Police Captain (Ray Winstone) offers to spare the lives of two Burns’
brothers if one of them, Charlie (Guy Pearce) kills their older brother Arthur
(Danny Huston) who was responsible for the crime. As the youngest brother
(Richard Wilson) rots in jail with his execution looming, Charlie has just nine
days to track down Arthur and bring his body to the Captain.

The film’s opening titles show original photos mixed with
stills from the set which are made to look aged. This is a nice little touch
which helps to create the period setting. The look and feel of late Victorian
Australia is captured wonderfully with a mixture of fantastic sets, costumes
and locations. There is a fabulous juxtaposition between the Captain’s little
bubble and the rest of the film’s locations. He often remarks that “I will tame
this land” and his house, garden and wife look as though they have been neatly
dropped from a London
suburb. Outside of this however the land is sweaty, dusty and grim. People are
unwashed and clothes are stained brown and torn.

Monday, 4 June 2012

Snow White (Kristen Stewart) is the daughter of King Magnus
(Noah Huntley) and is known as a great beauty. Her mother, the Queen dies when
she is young and her father remarries a freed prisoner called Ravenna (Charlize Theron). On their wedding
night Ravenna
kills the King and takes the Kingdom for herself. Snow White is locked up in an
isolated tower for several years as the Kingdom is left to rot under Ravenna’s cruel rule.
When she comes of age it is revealed to Ravenna
that she is no longer the fairest of them all and that Snow White’s beauty has
usurped hers. Ravenna
tries to eat Snow White’s heart in order to stay forever young but Snow White
escapes. Ravenna sends a drunken widower
Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to bring Snow White back but things don’t pan out
the way Ravenna
hopes.

The film appears to be influenced by many different stories
and ideas with the most notable being Snow White (obviously), but there is also
a lot of Joan of Ark in there as well as a little Twilight, Game of Thrones, Royal Wedding and the visual styling of
an acid trip. The castle appears to be modelled on Mont St.Michael in Normandy. The film’s design and effects are amongst its most successful
features. Debut director Rupert Sanders has created a sumptuous world of dark
forests, great castles, dancing fairies, giant trolls and medieval towns. The film looks
stunning.